1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cash drawer which can be operated by both electrical and mechanical means.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There has been disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,159,153 to Fumio Yoshikawa a latch device for the drawer box of a cash register which causes the cash register drawer to be latch-locked when the drawer is pushed into the cash register drawer casing and which causes the cash register drawer to be released from the latch when by a subsequent push on the cash register drawer box. The latch device of Yoshikawa uses a combination of three pivotable levers which cooperate to latch the drawer box when it is pushed into the cash register drawer casing and which cooperate to release the latch-lock by applying a small pushing force on the cash register drawer box.
The three levers of Yoshikawa include a horizontal lever having a hook at a forward end thereof for engaging a stopper on the cash storing drawer, a latch component having a latch hook which engages the horizontal lever to prevent it from pivoting upward to release the stopper on the cash storing drawer and a lock-releasing lever which is effective to release the latch hook of the latch component when the lock-releasing lever is pushed by the stopper of the cash storing drawer so that the stopper will be released from the hook of the horizontal lever due to a spring force which urges the cash storing drawer out of the cash register drawer casing.
There is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,708,773 to Shiro Ishii, the inventor of the present invention, an electromagnetically actuated latch means for releasing a cash storage drawer from a housing on operation of a switch to control electric power to the electromagnetic means. The electromagnetically actuated latch means of Ishii includes a latch member 4 having a hook portion 4' which is engaged with a C-shaped opening in an arm member having a hook at the opposite end thereof for engaging the stop of a cash drawer, and electromagnetic means which when actuated pivots the latch lock such that an upper hook portion thereof engaging the C-shaped recess in the arm member causes the hook portion of the arm member to be pivoted out of engagement with the stop on the cash-storage drawer. Ishii also provides suitable springs for urging the cash-drawer outwardly from the housing and to return the arm member to a position at which the stop of the cash-storage drawer will be engaged by the hook portion of the arm member when the drawer is again pushed into the housing.
It will be evident from the above discussion that Yoshikawa teaches a manually actuated latch device for drawer and Ishii teaches an electrically actuated latch mechanism for drawers. The present invention is directed at a latch device which can be operated manually or electrically.